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Crews recover body of missing swimmer

Victim jumped off Byram Swinging Bridge

This morning rescuers are searching for Mark Kuhn who disappeared in the Pearl River.

Crews recover body of missing swimmer

Victim jumped off Byram Swinging Bridge

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Updated: 8:27 PM CDT Jun 13, 2013

BYRAM, Miss. —

Crews found the body of a man who jumped off the Byram Swinging Bridge and never resurfaced Thursday.

Authorities found 36-year-old Mark Anthony Kuhn's body about 10:15 a.m. Thursday about a mile from where he was last seen swimming with friends Monday evening.

Family members said they feared Kuhn may have drowned.

"We were jumping off the bridge, and then he was flailing, so I jumped in after him to save him, and I couldn't," said Kevin Garrard, the victim's brother-in-law.

Garrard had pictures that were taken right before things turned bad.

"He was going underwater, and I was picking him up right there, and that's when I lost him," he said. "I got to him. He started drowning me, so I went up to the bank to catch my breath, and I was going back in after him. By that time, my sister was in there. He went down 3 feet in front of me, so I jumped in after him again. I couldn't get to him in time."

"While we were walking up here, we heard them down there at the banks yelling, screaming for help or whatever, and I didn't think nothing of it," said witness Seth Dod. "I thought they were just messing around."

Emergency crews from Hinds and Rankin counties searched for hours.

"We started just a fast approach, fast search with boats that we had from Cleary Fire Department, and we had overhead flight from the helicopter," said Bob Wedgewood of Rankin County Emergency Operations Center.

Family members said the man knew how to swim, but just panicked.

"My sister loves that man more than anybody on Earth," Garrard said.

An investigation is being conducted by the Rankin County Sheriff's Office and the Rankin County Coroner's Office.